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2021 "Not a Tank" Standings


Hoss

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32 minutes ago, jsb said:

I warned these guys about this stuff in another thread, USE AN EMOJI for this kind of shenanigans. I picked on @Thorny I believe but obviously there's a lot more of his kind around here than even I imagined. 😀

The irony here being I'm the only one that got his joke? 

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2 hours ago, Hoss said:

I don’t believe it’s a tank either but I also don’t think teams care about wins in a lost season at the end. They care about seeing what they’ve got and will prioritize that over winning games. It becomes notable whether what you’ve got can or can’t win games, obviously.

This isn’t a tank, hence why the title reads “Tank.”

if you think they are tanking, how would you explain Eakin and Irwin in the Press Box?

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32 minutes ago, woods-racer said:

Never willfully gut your roster of all NHL caliper players for the hopes of getting a generational player unless this criteria already exists:

 

A competent GM and accompanying staff, such as asst GM and scouting department.

An AHL team stocked with NHL ready players and a great staff that is ready to train all the new players from trading off of your veterans.

A competent front office that knows if either of these 2 conditions are not working the how to and with the power to resolve them.

 

 

We would much rather be a mediocre team with literally no chance of winning the cup, but we will fight tooth an nail for the 8th and final playoff spot.

 

 

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16 minutes ago, Crusader1969 said:

We would much rather be a mediocre team with literally no chance of winning the cup, but we will fight tooth an nail for the 8th and final playoff spot.

 

 

As opposed to what has happened for the last 6 years since tanking? Absolutely!

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1 hour ago, woods-racer said:

Never willfully gut your roster of all NHL caliper players for the hopes of getting a generational player unless this criteria already exists:

 

A competent GM and accompanying staff, such as asst GM and scouting department.

An AHL team stocked with NHL ready players and a great staff that is ready to train all the new players from trading off of your veterans.

A competent front office that knows if either of these 2 conditions are not working the how to and with the power to resolve them.

 

 

I agree with everything stated. I was just wondering if there’s people out there that say our losing ways today are due to some nebulous installment of a “losing culture” 6 years ago. It’s actually that this organization has demonstrated a remarkable commitment to incompetence since then: poor drafting, poor player development, dumb contracts being given out, trading good players for peanuts, coaches having no clue, etc. No addition of a “generational” talent wouldn’t changed this. Geez, look at out AHL roster, the team that we’re supposes to develop our talent. It’s a wasteland. 

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7 hours ago, LGR4GM said:

There's no tank because the Sabres didn't deliberately sell off all valuable assets in order to TANK or finish as low as possible in the standings. They just lack talent straight up, have no goaltending, and were coached by a completely in over his head relic of the 90's. 

I agree with everything except this "relic of the 90's" idea. His coaching concept was based on the success less talented teams like Finland had at the worlds. Not some outdated concept. Tight defense first hockey can still win you hockey games (look at Pittsburgh's shift) and is far from outdated. His ideas just didn't mesh with this roster and the personalities on it. 

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5 hours ago, woods-racer said:

Never willfully gut your roster of all NHL caliper players for the hopes of getting a generational player unless this criteria already exists:

 

A competent GM and accompanying staff, such as asst GM and scouting department.

An AHL team stocked with NHL ready players and a great staff that is ready to train all the new players from trading off of your veterans.

A competent front office that knows if either of these 2 conditions are not working the how to and with the power to resolve them.

 

 

image.jpeg.7414dc4c79c128cac82f5b161d795ab3.jpeg

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11 hours ago, LGR4GM said:

There's no tank because the Sabres didn't deliberately sell off all valuable assets in order to TANK or finish as low as possible in the standings. They just lack talent straight up, have no goaltending, and were coached by a completely in over his head relic of the 90's. 

🤣

What ELSE did Ralph do to you?

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Unlike the tanks, this has been evaluating the talent in the organization and getting our best prospects maximum NHL playing time.  Mitts and Dahlin are playing hard minutes to see if they can handle it. R2 is getting prime minutes to see if his Euro game translates to the NHL (it does).  Samuelsson is playing to see if he can adjust to the speed of the NHL and if he is ready to stay in the NHL (not sure) etc... 

This is making the best out of a bad situation and look who is benefitting. By my count 11 key Sabres prospects/young players are really benefitting from this evaluation.  Dahlin and Jokiharju solidified their positions on the team.  Cozens, Mitts, Thompson, and Asplund all improved their status as well.  Prospects R2, Borgen, Bryson, Samuelsson and UPL are also showing they aren’t out of place in the NHL and for R2, Borgen and Bryson they may be earning full time gigs for next season.

Honestly this needed to happen.  We needed to stop relying on outside help and give our kids a chance.  Dumping RK and restoring modern hockey to this team has made all the difference.  The purge needs to continue.  KO and Eakin also need to be gone.

Edited by GASabresIUFAN
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7 hours ago, kas23 said:

Sorry to be that guy, but what was this lesson?

No worries. My take is that the tank instilled a losing atmosphere that the organization really never shook. Obviously there are other, much more tangible reasons for our demise such as bad drafting and poor hiring decisions. But as Joe Torre says “players have heartbeats”. 

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29 minutes ago, GASabresIUFAN said:

Unlike the tanks, this has been evaluating the talent in the organization and getting our best prospects maximum NHL playing time.  Mitts and Dahlin are playing hard minutes to see if they can handle it. R2 is getting prime minutes to see if his Euro game translates to the NHL (it does).  Samuelsson is playing to see if he can adjust to the speed of the NHL and if he is ready to stay in the NHL (not sure) etc... 

This is making the best out of a bad situation and look who is benefitting. By my count 11 key Sabres prospects/young players are really benefitting from this evaluation.  Dahlin and Jokiharju solidified their positions on the team.  Cozens, Mitts, Thompson, and Asplund all improved their status as well.  Prospects R2, Borgen, Bryson, Samuelsson and UPL are also showing they aren’t out of place in the NHL and for R2, Borgen and Bryson they may be earning full time gigs for next season.

Honestly this needed to happen.  We needed to stop relying on outside help and give our kids a chance.  Dumping RK and restoring modern hockey to this team has made all the difference.  The purge needs to continue.  KO and Eakin also need to be gone.

At the start of this season, I considered Cozens, Ruotsalainen, Mitts, Asplund, Thompson, Samuelsson, Borgen, Bryson and UPL prospects. That's now literally half our lineup.

Since January we've lost or benched 11 veteran regulars — Eichel, Hall, Staal, Montour, Miller, Eakin, Lazar, McCabe, Okposo, Hutton and Ullmark — and added one, Bjork.

It's really hard to compare what is happening now to the Krueger era. This is simply not the same team.

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5 minutes ago, Hoss said:

Big win by the Ducks tonight for those keeping track. A few updates to the original post with standings. San Jose is up 3-2 on Arizona in the third and would be another team to pickup points.

Another 2-3 points by the Devils and Ducks and the Sabres got it wrapped up. Don’t see us getting more than 5 more points in the last 6. 

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Tomorrow is a "big" day. Two points on the line for every team because we play. Then there are an additional two points available for New Jersey, Detroit, Vancouver and Calgary.

Calgary, San Jose, and Detroit could all be "eliminated" tomorrow.

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35 minutes ago, Thorny said:

Question, rooting for wins aside, who else *wants* them to NOT finish last?

If they do, it will be 3 times in the last decade in the 1st year of a new rookie GM that we finished last in the NHL.  There is a dubious accomplishment.  The only real difference is that I have hope for this lineup going forward.

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11 minutes ago, GASabresIUFAN said:

If they do, it will be 3 times in the last decade in the 1st year of a new rookie GM that we finished last in the NHL.  There is a dubious accomplishment.  The only real difference is that I have hope for this lineup going forward.

I'm just tired of it. It's been said many times there is no consensus with this draft, I'll trust we'll get a good player from where we pick, wherever that is, putting faith in their evaluation skills - if that's the trade off required by me for not having to stomach another last place finish. 

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Just now, Thorny said:

I'm just tired of it. It's been said many times there is no consensus with this draft, I'll trust we'll get a good player from where we pick, wherever that is, putting faith in their evaluation skills - if that's the trade off for not having to stomach another last place finish. 

You only get like a 5% higher chance of picking at 1 anyway.  I think a team losing 18 consecutive games and not finishing dead last in a 56 game season is better than the slightly better chance of getting your guy.  

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7 minutes ago, Drag0nDan said:

You only get like a 5% higher chance of picking at 1 anyway.  I think a team losing 18 consecutive games and not finishing dead last in a 56 game season is better than the slightly better chance of getting your guy.  

Ya, the appeal would more so be that the most likely result is picking 2 or 3 (unsure of the exact odds) if we finish last, instead of the most likely result being 3 or 4, if we finish 2nd last, so before we see what happens with the bouncy balls there is a likely position, up/down at stake, for each team we surpass - but I'd take it. 

- - - 

Maybe the karma will suit us and we'll win the first pick from 2nd last, and get to take future perennial all-star Owen Power, a slam dunk selection from that spot, the unanimous consensus 1. 

future multiple norris winner, it's just a question of the over/under. I'm setting it at 4

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13 minutes ago, Thorny said:

Ya, the appeal would more so be that the most likely result is picking 2 or 3 (unsure of the exact odds) if we finish last, instead of the most likely result being 3 or 4, if we finish 2nd last, so before we see what happens with the bouncy balls there is a likely position, up/down at stake, for each team we surpass - but I'd take it. 

- - - 

Maybe the karma will suit us and we'll win the first pick from 2nd last, and get to take future perennial all-star Owen Power, a slam dunk selection from that spot, the unanimous consensus 1. 

future multiple norris winner, it's just a question of the over/under. I'm setting it at 4

He still isn't. 

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